Slumping teams lose games like the Bruins lost to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night at the Garden.
The B’s played hard and dominated for long stretches but every mistake seemed to blow up in their face and they dropped a 4-1 decision to the Kraken. Local product Joey Daccord (37 saves) was both very good and a little lucky. The B’s hit three posts and had a couple more great chances go just wide.
Hingham native Matty Beniers also came up big for Seattle, notching a goal and two assists.
The Kraken won the special teams battle, as minimal as it was, cashing in on one of its two power play chances while the B’s came up empty on their two chances.
“Happy with a lot of parts of our game (but) we’re not getting the results right now and sometimes you go through that during the season,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “We’ve got to stick together, keep working, keep grinding. We said it after the second, it’s going to take some sandpaper goals.”
David Pastrnak fired 14 shots, landing seven on goal, one of which being the only one to get past Daccord.
“He definitely came up big for them, no doubt,” said Pastrnak. “We definitely had plenty of opportunities to score or we either didn’t capitalize or he was there.”
The B’s have played much better in their last two games against Seattle and Tampa Bay than they did in their two losses last week to Calgary and Washington. But you can live on silver linings for only so long. They’ve earned just three of a possible 10 points on their current seven-game homestand, going 1-3-1.
And with the Florida Panthers winning again on Thursday, the B’s lost their grip on first place in the Atlantic Division, which they’d held for 119 days. The B’s and Panthers are tied in points, but Florida nudged ahead on the strength of having more regulation wins.
Thursday’s game started with a positive vibe.
North Andover native Daccord was under siege in the first few moments of the game but he came up with some big stops. He couldn’t make all of them, however. He first robbed Pastrnak with a great left pad save from six feet out, but the rebound came right back toward Pastrnak. Whether Pastrnak got his stick on it again or defenseman Jamie Oleksiak got all of it trying to guide the puck back under Daccord, it slipped under the netminder for Pastrnak’s 34th of the season at 4:54. It snapped a four-game goal-less streak for Pastrnak.
For a short time, it looked like the B’s might run away with it. The B’s landed the first nine shots of the game. But when Brandon Carlo clipped Jordan Eberle with a high stick, the Kraken took advantage, with Eberle himself doing the honors.
He broke in on the right wing and got a backhander off that Jeremy Swayman stopped. Swayman turned to his right, expecting to follow in that direction but the rebound actually bounced back to Eberle, who had a wide opening in which to score at 9:11 before Hampus Lindholm could close on him. The B’s have allowed a PP goal in four of the five games since the All-Star break.
“I think the PK’s lacking a little bit of confidence right now,” said Montgomery. “On the entry, we’ve got to be working together. Two guys were working and two guys were watching.”
Daccord remained locked in in the second period, making a good positional save on Pavel Zacha’s redirect of a Pastrnak pass early.
The B’s kept up the pressure. On one sequence, Charlie McAvoy dinged the post to Daccord’s right and then Trent Frederic drew a hooking penalty.
The B’s again failed on the power play, but not for lack of a golden chance. Pastrnak again served as the set-up man, sending a perfect pass to James van Riemsdyk at the top of the crease. But van Riemsdyk, who has had little luck in what has been his office throughout his career, sent the puck behind Daccord but wide.
“That’s an unlucky break with JVR. That’s just how our PP is going right now,” said Pastrnak.
Then, after Pastrnak hit another post, the Kraken took their first lead of the game with 2:25 left in the period off a major boo-boo. With the B’s pressuring, Brad Marchand dished the puck to Carlo at the blue line but Carlo fell down, giving the Kraken a 3-on-1 with only Marchand back to defend. Eeli Tolvanen and Matt Beniers played catch and Tolvanen one-timed return pass past Swayman for the go-ahead goal.
“I might need to take some skating lessons tomorrow,” said Carlo with a wry smile. “Those things happen. I’ve been through it plenty of times, had some blooper reels, nothing I haven’t been through before. But when they end up at the back of the net, it definitely stings a little more.”
In the third, the B’s picked up right were they left off in the second — hitting another post, this time Coyle on a backhander.
And when the Kraken got another chance, they cashed in again at 8:36. Parker Wotherspoon had his shot blocked by Alex Wennberg, who then sent Beniers off on a developing odd-man rush. Beniers kept it for himself and beat Swayman with a sizzling snapshot under the bar for a 3-1 Seattle lead.
With Daccord continuing to flash leather and time running low, Montgomery pulled Swayman with 5:00 left. But when Pastrnak was called for hooking with 3:43 left, that just about did it. Jared McCann ended it with an empty-netter to finish it off and, for the third time on this homestand, the B’s came away with nothing.
